Gift of the Risen Jesus

This morning, Pope Francis said: As Christians, “we are called to bear
witness to and announce the message that ‘God is love,’ that God is not distant or insensible to our human affairs.”

God, the Pope said, “is close to us, He is always by our side, He walks
with us to share our joys and our sorrows, our hopes and our struggles.” He loves human beings so much that He sent His only Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, into the world, that the world
might be saved through Jesus.

It is the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis continued, “the gift of the Risen
Jesus,” that “communicates the divine life to us and so makes us enter into the dynamism of the Trinity, a dynamism of love, of communion, of reciprocal service, of sharing.” A person, a family, a
parish that loves others for the sake of love is a “reflection of the Trinity.”

But although true love is without limits, true love also knows when to
limit itself in order “to meet the other, to respect the liberty of the other.” Drawing the connection between the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity and next week’s Feast of Corpus Christi, Pope Francis
said “the Eucharist is like the ‘burning bush’ in which the Trinity humbly dwells and communicates Itself.”

A person, a family, a parish that loves others for the sake of
love is a “reflection of the Trinity.”That is the question we should all ask ourselves—are we indeed a loving
family or a loving person? Are we happy people willing to share our Faith in subtle ways with others, more by example than with words.

Franciscans are overall happy people. One of the reasons I have felt
attraction to various Franciscan groups as in the Capuchin Franciscan Order a half century ago, was that one always heard laughter on the other side of the friary wall. There is also a lot of joy
found in Secular Franciscan fraternities. For me that was true in 2008 when I was invited to attend a Secular Franciscan General Meeting, given in Hungary, where there were many happy people in
attendance. One does not need to come to Hungary to find Franciscan joy - it's found wherever there is a Fraternity whichis a “reflection of the Trinity.”

Let us strive to reflect to many other people the joy we feel inside.
Living a humble, chaste and obedient life to God, is what brings us true joy.